Portfolio Insights:“American University of Beirut (the “University”) is an independent, not-for-profit, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher learning located in Beirut, Lebanon, where it also operates a 421-bed medical center. The University was granted its charter in 1863 by the State of New York and was founded in 1866. It is exempt from federal income taxes under the provisions of Section 501(c) (3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

The purpose of the University, as an institution of higher learning, is to share in the education of the youth of the Middle East, in service of its people, and in the advancement of knowledge.

The University presently serves approximately 6,342 undergraduate students and 1,601 graduate and professional students in the faculties of Arts and Sciences, Agriculture and Food Sciences, Engineering and Architecture, Medicine and Public Health, Business and Nursing.” (Source)

1) The American University of Beirut has announced in a statement “The Kamel Abdel Rahman Endowed Scholarship Fund,” which is an endowment of more than $8 million that will support scholarships for Palestinian students from refugee camps. According to the statement, Kamel Abdel Rahman, a Palestinian born in 1907 in Haifa in Palestine and an AUB graduate, established the Kamel Abdel Rahman Education Fund in 1976 to support the university education of needy Palestinian refugee students.

He entrusted Isam Nubani and Mohamad Hasan Saadi, both AUB graduates, to manage the Fund on his behalf. They decided this year, that AUB would be the best institution to help financially disadvantaged Palestinian students get higher education. As reported in the statement, in making this gift to AUB, Nubani and Saadi said, “AUB had such a profound impact on the life of Kamel Abdel Rahman and our own lives. We know that AUB will ensure that this Fund will benefit deserving Palestinian students for generations to come.” (Source)

2) The American University of Beirut is an institution of higher learning founded to provide excellence in education, to participate in the advancement of knowledge through research, and to serve the peoples of the Middle East and beyond. Chartered in New York State in 1863, the University bases its educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal arts model of higher education. The University believes deeply in and encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to foster tolerance and respect for diversity and dialogue. Graduates will be individuals committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity and civic responsibility, and leadership. (Source)

3) Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut bases its educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal arts model of higher education. A teaching-centered research university, AUB has around 700 instructional faculty and a student body of around 8,000 students. The University encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to graduate men and women committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership.
AUB currently offers more than 120 programs leading to the bachelor’s, master’s, MD, and PhD degrees. The University became coeducational in 1922; its student body is 50 percent male and 50 percent female. The language of instruction is English (except for courses in the Arabic Department and other language courses). (Source)

4) January 2009 – The American University of Beirut (AUB) has appointed Mr. Eisa M. Al-Eisa, Managing Director & CEO of Samba Financial Group, to its Board of Trustees. The Board is collectively responsible for overseeing the university’s welfare and the fulfillment of its mission. In keeping with the university’s strategy since its establishment over a century ago, the Board is composed of prominent individuals from varied backgrounds including academics, business people, scientists and physicians. They bring distinctive areas of expertise and potential, enriching the Board and helping it pursue its shared vision about the importance of a university education and how AUB can fulfill its role. (Source)

5) The American University of Beirut (AUB) received an $8 million endowment from the Kamel Abdel Rahman Endowed Scholarship Fund to support Palestinian students on Tuesday. AUB says this is the largest single endowment for scholarships in the history of the university. The fund, which is named after a Palestinian AUB graduate and businessman, will support tuition scholarships for Palestinians from refugee camps, according to the university.

“This very generous gift will give opportunities to countless future students who, in turn, will make their contributions to their societies and the world,” AUB President Peter Dorman said. Rahman was born in Haifa, Palestine, in 1907 and studied business administration at AUB. Upon graduating in 1931, he returned to Palestine and founded the Contracting and Trading Company (CAT) before he was forced to come back to Lebanon during the Nakba in 1948. (Source)

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